Henrietta Szold is an important figure in the history of Israel. Although she died before the nation’s founding in 1948, she was dedicated to the Zionist cause and gave practical realization to the lofty ideals of a Jewish state. In 1912, she founded Hadassah, an international Zionist women’s organization that provided the infrastructure of a modern medical system serving both Jews and Arabs in Palestine.

Szold spent most of the last 25 years of her life in Palestine, overseeing numerous health, educational, and social service institutions that would become an integral part of the State of Israel. In her seventies, under the shadow of the Nazi threat in Europe, she directed Youth Aliyah, an organization that brought thousands of children from Germany and Europe to agricultural settlements in Palestine.

From 1976 to 1984, the State of Israel honored Szold by putting her picture on the five lira note.

For more information on Henrietta Szold, go to JWA’s Women of Valor exhibit.

1. Who is pictured on U.S. currency? What roles did these people play in our nation’s history?

2. In addition to Szold, what other images appear on the bill? Why are they significant?

3. Do any women appear on U.S. currency? Are women on bills or coins from other nations? What are the primary accomplishments of these women?